Watford head coach Marco Silva wants to see his Hornets squad improved before the start of the Premier League season after saying he wanted the club to make "strong moves" for new arrivals "as soon as possible".

Five players, including Tom Cleverley who was on loan at Vicarage Road last season, have joined Watford since Silva took over in June, but the head coach still feels as many as "five or six" players are needed to complete his squad.

Speaking at his first press conference last Thursday, the 39-year-old had warned of the dangers of spending "too quickly".

But perhaps with Saturday's 0-0 draw at Aston Villa in his mind, he stepped up the tone of his language regarding further incomings, with the hope of getting arrivals up-to-speed before the Premier League curtain-raiser with Liverpool on August 12.

He said: "We need strong moves in the market. As soon as possible is good for me, because we’ve got two weeks before the Premier League starts.

"I expect we will make the number of moves I have said before [five or six] in the market."

It is little secret a new striker is a priority for the Hornets, as well as more quality out wide after Steven Berghuis asked to leave the club, and his move to Feyenoord expected to be completed imminently.

And while Silva has refused to comment on the positions he is looking to fill, competition in goal and at left-back are both also areas he would like to improve.

He said: "I don’t want to talk about specific positions that we need. Firstly, because everybody knows we need to put more competition between our players in our squad and improve the squad.

"When I talk about five or six, it’s easy to understand what positions we need, but first of all I have to analyse the quality we have in our squad because we have a lot of quality.

"I have a lot of respect for the players and how they have worked until now, and now it’s time to make decisions and see what we do in the market."